The name you call me
by Sevi007
Summary: Names are a powerful tool. They can define us, they can represent us, they can show other's love for us. And some of them stick, even when everything else seems lost. (Izuku just never changed that one habit of his, and Bakugou, quite honestly, did not change all that much, either.)


**Little thing I wrote in a rush. Probably OOC, but I hope you will enjoy it anyways! ;)**

 _Katsuki was quite self-confident for a four years old._

 _That may have been because his parents loved him with all they had got and never forgot to tell him that. They always told him what a good boy he was and what a good hero he would be in the future. Yes, his Mum and his Dad loved him very, very much. They were the best parents of the world, Katsuki told himself._

 _Though his Mum had her yelling-moments were she used what his Dad called "bad words". (Katsuki liked the bad words. They sounded cool. He wanted to use them once he was a grown-up, just like his mum.)_

 _So, when his parents were the best parents of the world, then Katsuki had to be the best boy of the world._

 _It was as simple as that._

 _That fact was what gave Katsuki most of his self-confidence. And his self-confidence was what drew people to him. Especially his peers. All the children on the playground wanted to be his friends, and he liked that. He liked to occupy centre stage and liked being the leader of their little group._

 _What he did not like as much, though, was that the other children didn't understand his enthusiasm when it came to the hero All Might._

 _The moment Katsuki had seen All Might on TV for the first time, he had sat there wide-eyed and gaping, shivering with excitement while he watched the hero save hundreds of hundreds of people._

 _Katsuki didn't understand math yet, but he did know that All Might had saved lots of people._

 _After that, Katsuki had decided: All Might was the absolute best hero there was. And one day, Bakugou would be just as strong as him. No, even stronger._

 _But his friends didn't understand that. When he told them excitedly about All Might's last fight, re-enacting the hero's movements and his deep laugh – which wasn't as deep when Katsuki tried it – they just shrugged and then listed up the heroes they looked up to._

" _They can't look up to other heroes!" Katsuki told his Mum while they were on their way to the playground. "All Might is the best!"_

" _Katsuki, I told you already," Mum sighed, squeezing his hand in hers lightly, though her patience was wearing thin. They had had that argument over and over for days now. "Other people don't have to like the same things you do. They can have their own favourites. You don't get to decide what people like and what not."_

" _But Muuuum!" Katsuki whines, pulling at her hand. "It's_ All Might! _And he's_ the best!"

 _His mother groans quietly and ignores him, obviously done with this._

 _Katsuki has long since learned that her ignoring him meant that he should not push further. Else his mum probably wanted to go back home, and then he wouldn't get the chance to show off his new toy._

 _Deciding that he couldn't have that, he kept quiet the rest of the way. Instead of talking, he admired his new All Might-action figure. His Dad had bought it for him the same day the toy had been released._

 _Katsuki grinned happily up at the little All Might who grinned back at him as the boy swung the figurine up over his head and pretended to let it fly._

 _He was so engrossed in his playing that he almost didn't notice that they had reached the playground. Only when his Mum announced their arrival did he look up, already checking eagerly if he saw one of his friends._

 _He was disappointed, though. He could see not one of the other children he usually played with._

 _Pouting, Katsuki looked up at his Mum._

 _She immediately understood his dilemma and rolled her eyes at him, smirking. "Come now! You can have fun on your own until you're friends are here."_

" _But I wanted to show them All Might!" For emphasis, he held up the figurine._

" _You can do that later, right?"_

 _That was right but… just to make sure, Katsuki pouted some more. It was not fair. He had really looked forward to showing them the figurine._

 _On the other hand, though, they probably wouldn't understand how cool it_ really _was._

 _Bottom lip still sticking out and frown ever-present, Katsuki let his gaze wander over the playground. There were some mothers with their little babies, talking with each other. A man and a women with their dog. An old couple, sitting on a bench. On the bench next to it, there was a woman sitting, leaning down to look under the bench and talk to the little boy under it…_

 _Wait._

 _Katsuki turned in mid-step, almost falling over because of the movement._

 _There really sat a little boy under the bench. Katsuki could catch a glimpse of a pale, round face with tiny little spots on it, and… green hair? That was weird, Katsuki decided. Even weirder than hiding under a bench._

 _The boy leaned out a bit from under the bench as the woman - probably his mother – coaxed him some more. But he didn't step out from under the bench, only one hand coming up to clutch his mother's pants tightly, looking up at her pleadingly._

 _And that was when Katsuki saw it. In the little hand clutching the pant leg, there was a figurine. Painted blue, red and yellow. And really, really familiar._

 _Katsuki's heartrate increased. That boy – that strange new boy had an All Might-action figure! No one Katsuki knew had one, other than himself. That boy there was probably a fanboy, as Mum called it, too!_

" _Mum, Mum!" Sprinting towards his Mum to grab her hand and pull at it, Katsuki pointed eagerly over to the bench. "There is a new boy! And he has an All Might, too!"_

" _Really?" His Mum looked over to where he was pointing. "Well, perhaps you could ask him if he wants to play with you…"_

 _She couldn't even finish her sentence, because Katsuki had already let go of her hand and was now running towards the mother and her son._

" _Katsuki, wait!"_

 _But he didn't wait. He had seen someone who could become his new friend, and he wouldn't wait for anything now._

" _Hey, you!" Katuski yelled loudly while he was running towards the new boy at the same time. "I want to play with you!"_

 _The boy blinked out from behind his mother's legs and from under the bench – Katsuki could see big, green eyes gaze at him – saw Katsuki running up to him at full speed and went back into hiding with a shocked yelp._

 _Katsuki came to a skittering stop in front of the mother of the boy, quite confused. Hadn't he just said that he wanted to play? Why did the other not come out and play, then?_

" _Oh dear. That was a bit too much enthusiasm, I fear," the mother giggled, hand coming up to cover her mouth._

" _Katsuki!" Now there was Mum, too, and she sounded far from pleased as she stepped up next to him. "What did I say? Don't scare the other children!"_

" _I didn't want to scare him! I want to play with him!" Katsuki answered, perhaps a little bit too loudly, because Mum shot him a reprimanding look._

" _Now see here," the mother told him, leaning forward so that she was on eye's level with him. She had green eyes, too, and her smile was almost as nice as Mum's smile. "You're Katsuki, right?"_

" _Yep!" Katsuki answered, before his Mum nudged him in the back and he remembered his manners. "Ah, yes, Ma'am!"_

" _I'm Inko. It's nice to meet you, Katsuki-kun. But, you see, Izuku here," she smiled down softly at the mop of green hair that peeks out from behind her knees. "Izuku is a little bit shy. He does not know anyone here yet, so he's nervous today."_

" _That's fine!" Katsuki assured her, trying to take a step to the side so that he could see the boy behind her legs. "I will play with him, then he knows me!"_

 _That caused both women to laugh heartily. Katsuki didn't understand why, but that was okay. Adults often laughed for weird reasons._

" _Did you hear that, Izuku?" Inko called to her still hiding son. "Here is someone who wants to play with you. Don't you want to come out?"_

 _The mop of green hair flops from left to right as the boy shakes his head furiously._

" _Oh dear."_

" _Katsuki, let's go," Mum called out to him softly. "He probably wants to play later."_

 _But Katsuki didn't listen. He had never been good at listening, especially when he wanted something. And right now, he wanted to become friends with that boy who was also a fanboy of All Might._

 _So he got down on hands and knees and just straight out crawled under the bench._

 _There was laughter from Inko and an indignant "Katsuki!" to be heard from his Mum, but he didn't mind them. He pushed himself up and flopped down cross-legged, grinning triumphantly at the boy sitting opposite from him. "Gotcha!"_

 _The boy – Izuku – stared at him with eyes as wide as saucers. He had hair as green as his eyes. He was pressed up against the backside of the bench, caught between the wood and Katsuki. And he had his All Might-action figure pressed tightly against his chest, either to protect it or because he hoped that the replica of the hero would somehow protect him._

 _The figurine had been what had drawn Katsuki towards the boy, so he pointed at it eagerly now. "Hey, you like All Might?"_

 _Izuku blinked, eyes still wide, before he seemed to relax just the tiniest bit. He nodded slightly._

" _That's cool!" Katsuki grinned at him, leaning eagerly forward. "He's the best, right? Everybody looks up to other heroes, but I think All Might is the best hero there is!"_

 _Another blink, slowly, as if Izuku was processing his words. Then, the boy spoke for the first time, his voice little more than a whisper. "You… you like All Might, too?"_

" _Sure do!" Katsuki pulled out his own action figure from his pocket and showed it to the other boy. "See? I have one, too! It's my treasure!"_

 _And now, there is a very palpable change in Izuku's expression. A wide, beaming smile stretched his features, lighting up his whole face._

 _Now Katsuki was the one to blink in surprise at the rigorous change._

 _And as if that wasn't enough, Izuku who had been so silent and timid up until now, started to talk. A lot. "I_ know! _He's so cool, he's the best hero! Did you see the video where he saved so many people? He smiled the whole time! That was so cool! When I grow up, I want to be a hero, just like…"_

"… _just like All Might!" the boys finished simultaneously, grinning widely at each other._

 _Eager to have found a friend who understood his enthusiasm, Katsuki pointed over his shoulder. "Hey, do you want to go play? We can play that I'm All Might, and we fight against the villains!"_

 _Izuku's eyes were literally shining with excitement as he nodded eagerly. "Yeah!"_

 _The boys crawled out from under the bench, dashing off towards the sandbox._

 _While already running, Izuku called back over his shoulder, "Mommy, I will go play!"_

" _Sure, sweetie! Have fun!"_

 _Katsuki just glanced back quickly, only to realize that both his Mum and Inko still sat on the bench where they had left them, talking to each other._

 _Huh. So his Mum had also found a friend, then._

 _Next to him, Izuku laughed, although he was out of breathe from running, and held his action figure high above his head. It made All Might look like he would fly away._

 _Katsuki laughed and did the same._

 _This would be a good afternoon._

 _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ H ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 _They were deeply engrossed in their play, hours passing without either of them noticing._

 _Katsuki had himself declared the All Might of their acting scene and after some pleading, he had made Izuku his sidekick. ("Not that All Might needs a sidekick!" he had said, and Izuku had nodded seriously at that.) And their action figures – bot looking exactly the same, but with some imagination, Izuku's became the sidekick – had experienced the biggest adventures they could think of._

 _Katsuki was quite proud that he had found a new friend so easily, and on top of that a friend who was a really good All Might-imitator. Izuku's facial expression and voice-imitation were on point. Katsuki generously confessed that it was almost as good as his own._

 _There was just one thing that kept bugging Katsuki._

 _Izuku couldn't say his name._

 _He had tried, mind you. Katsuki had said his name slowly and well-pronounced, and Izuku had repeated. But each time he passed the "Ka" syllable and came to the "tsuki", he slipped up and got it wrong. After some time, he had just asked shyly if he could call him "Kacchan."_

" _It would be like a nickname," Izuku had mumbled, fiddling with his action figure._

 _Katsuki had tested the name out, saying it a few times and listening to the sound of it. Kacchan. If he was completely honest, he liked it. He had never had a nickname before, and Kacchan seemed like a good enough start._

 _All of this meant nothing, though, when his Mum came over to ask the both of them if they probably wanted to eat or drink something._

 _Izuku listened to her suggestion, expression scrunching up in thought before he asked, "Do_ you _want something, Kacchan?"_

 _Before Katsuki could answer, his Mum started cooing, grinning from ear to ear, "Kacchan? Oh, that's cute! Did you come up with that, Izuku-kun?"_

 _The boy covered at the question, shy under the close scrutiny. "Uh-huh."_

" _That's sweet! Can I call you Kacchan too, Katsuki?"_

 _Suddenly, the new nickname had lost its merit for Katsuki. Not only had Izuku been the only one supposed to call him that – it was_ their _nickname, after all – no, also did his Mum say it sounded "cute" and "sweet". Katsuki did not want to be any of those things. He wanted to be cool and strong, just like All Might._

 _Angry over the fact that the nickname had been destroyed for him, he answered curtly, "No, you can't."_

 _And he stood up, grabbed Izuku's hand and pulled the boy alongside him as he started to run. "Izuku, come, let's play over there!"_

" _O-Oh, okay," Izuku followed readily, happy with following his new friend._

 _His Mum called something after them, but Katsuki didn't listen to it. She would be angry later for it, but right now, he didn't care._

 _Once he was sure that the adults were out of ear-shot, he stopped his mad dash and let go of Izuku. Turning towards the other boy, Katsuki announced, "You need to learn my name!"_

" _Huh?" Izuku blinked at him, shrinking into himself again now that Katsuki seemed displeased with something. "W-Why? You said it's okay if I call you Kacchan, Kacchan…"_

" _You can't call me that!" Katsuki said, or more like, yelled._

 _Izuku's shoulders tensed, and his gaze locked onto his shoes, not daring to look up at his friend._

 _Katsuki felt a slight pang as he noticed that the beaming smile on the other's face was gone. Grumbling slightly, he corrected, "At least, you can't call me Kacchan in front of Mum or your mother."_

 _Instantly, Izuku perked up. "But when they're not here, then I can call you Kacchan."_

" _Well, I…" Katsuki shifted uneasily. "I would not say No to that."_

 _And there was the smile again, beaming and warm._

 _Katsuki grinned back, before he tried to become serious again. "But now, you learn my name!"_

 _Izuku whined a bit at that, but complied._

 _They tried and tried, but each time, it was the same. Izuku mastered the first syllable, but couldn't pronounce the second right, making it unrecognizable._

 _And just when Katsuki was about to give up, he noticed the little writing on his All Might action figure._

 _He can't read or write yet, but his mother had written the tiny letters with permanent marker onto the figurine and explained to him that this way, everyone would know that this little figurine belonged to Katsuki. Because that's what the letter spelled out – Katsuki._

 _Getting struck by an idea, he pushed the figurine into Izuku's hand, gesturing towards the tiny writing, "Here! See? There it says my name!"_

 _Izuku just blinked at him, startled, and reminded him, "But, Kacchan, I can't read yet."_

" _So? I can't, either!" Katsuki threw his hands up as if to prove his point. "But I have an idea! You keep that All Might until you learn to read and then you won't ever forget my name again!"_

" _B-But I don't forget your name, I just mess it up…," Izuku protested, arms flailing more the more embarrassed and nervous he got, "A-and when you give it to me, then you won't have All Might with you anymore!"_

" _No problem!" Bakugou had already thought of that. Picking up the action figure that belonged to Izuku and looked exactly the same, he waved the toy around. Even the letters are in exactly the same place, though they spelled_ Izuku _instead of_ Katsuki _. "I will take this one instead."_

 _Izuku didn't look very convinced by that, but his expressions instantly brightened when Bakugou added, "Besides, friends share things all the time, so this is okay, right?"_

" _R-Right," Izuku pressed the new-old figure spotting Katsuki to his chest, smiling happily at being called a friend. "Friends. We are friends, right, Kacchan?"_

 _He had used the nickname again instead of trying to pronounce his name, but Katsuki found that he wasn't really angry for that. Not when Izuku looked so hopefully and admiringly up at him._

 _Under that gaze, he felt like a hero already._

" _Yeah. We are."_

 _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ H ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

"Watch out, Midoriya! Coming through!"

Startling out of his thoughts, Izuku stepped aside hastily as someone called out for him.

Just in time, because seconds later, Sero and Kaminari dashed past him. Behind them, there were two cardboard boxes floating in mid-air, bound to their wrists with the help of Sero's tape like weird balloons.

The boys laughed loudly while they chased down the hallway and towards the lift, almost knocking Jirou over in the process.

"Uraraka didn't make them float so you can play with them!" The girl called after them, pulling one of her headphones out.

"Aww, come on!" Kaminari called back, jumping in place while they waited for the lift doors to open. "It's no fun otherwise!"

"Dear classmates!" Iida stormed into the dorm, pushing his glasses up while he began, "This is _not_ supposed to be fun! Aizawa-sensei gave us instructions to get unpacked and arrange our rooms until dinner! So please, work together everyone, to make sure we can meet his expectations…"

He was interrupted when a floating cardboard box almost smacked against the back of his head, knocking his glasses dangerously loose as it zoomed past his left ear and stopped shortly before it could crush against the wall.

"Whoops!" Kirishima popped up next to Iida, grinning sheepishly. "I, uh, probably should not try throwing those things. Sorry, Iida!"

"Kirishima-kun! I must insist that you, too…"

"Iida, are those your boxes out there?" Todoroki stepped over the front porch, one box of his own in his arms. "One of them fell over when they unloaded it from the car. Sounded like something broke."

Iida went pale at that. "My spare glasses! Please excuse me for a moment!

He rushed back outside, barely missing Tsuyu and Uraraka who stepped into the house right then.

"What's wrong with him?" Tsuyu asked, frowning slightly.

"Ah, there seems to be a problem with his glasses."

"Guys…," Uraraka's voice was barely a whimper, her hand pressed to her mouth.

"Whoa, Uraraka! What's wrong?!"

"I don't feel so good… let the boxes float too long…"

"Whoa, whoa, okay! Let's just… carry them into the lift, okay? Then you can let go!" Sero hastily said, pulling his box out of the air towards himself. "Come on, guys, help me with this!"

"It's your fault for playing around," Jirou reminded him and Kaminari, but went to help them with their boxes.

Tsuyu gently linked her arm with Uraraka, stroking the sick girl's hand. Her efforts got her a thumps-up while Uraraka tried not to break and barf.

Izuku leaned against the wall, chuckling quietly as everyone ran around like headless chickens. Moving into a dorm, especially _twenty people_ moving into a dorm, was not that easy. He himself had been so busy helping others with their stuff, that he had not done anything for his own room yet. His cardboard boxes were still standing here in the hallway, waiting to be carried up into his room and unpacked.

Well, at least his friends were grateful for the help. Especially Yaoyorozu had been quite relieved when Izuku had helped her carry the separate parts of her furniture to her room. Her king-sized bed for example had been quite a challenge.

"Do you need help with that, Midoriya?"

"Huh?" Izuku blinked, startled yet again, before he realized that Todoroki was still standing next to him, waiting patiently for his reaction. Laughing sheepishly at his own absentmindedness, Izuku shook his head. "Ah, no, no, I can manage!"

"You sure?" Todoroki gazed at the six or seven boxes standing next to the other.

"Quite sure," Izuku gave him a reassuring thumps-up, grinning widely. "It will be good training, carrying these boxes to my room."

"Always training."

"You can bet on that."

"You're almost as hopeless as All Might-sensei when it comes to taking breaks and resting."

"Hey, I'm not _that_ bad!"

They looked at each other, Izuku indignant and Todoroki unconvinced, before Izuku's stern expression crumbled and he started laughing. "Okay, perhaps I am."

"Told you," Todoroki smirked, satisfied with that, before he adjusted his grip on the box and heaved it higher up. "I will bring this to my room now. Call me if you need help."

"Ah, I will!"

"You won't," the other called over his shoulder, already heading for the lift. "That's why I will come check up on you later."

Izuku grimaced after him, but didn't really mean it. They both knew that Todoroki was right.

Making sure that he was alone in the hallway again, he crouched down to lift up a few of his boxes. While doing so, his gaze fell onto the little toy that had sent him on a journey through his memories only minutes before.

The All Might-action figure had always been his favourite All Might-merchandise. His treasure.

Izuku smiled nostalgically at it, before he laid it gently back into the box which it had fallen out of. Closing the box, he tried and settled for the three boxes on top of the pile.

It took him a moment to figure out how he could lift all of them up without one of them slipping off. And when he finally managed to get up, the material of the boxes groaned and his arms burned under the strain.

Perhaps he should not have packed so many of his All Might merchandise to take with him to the dorms. Then again, he just couldn't part with any of the pieces.

Lost in musing over that and view blocked by the boxes in his arms, he stumbled over another cardboard box left standing in the hallway, and fell forward.

Izuku yelped, tumbling forward while the boxes slipped out of his grip – and the worst part of all, he tumbled head-first into someone who had just walked around the corner.

A painful thud and a curse resounded as two heads smacked together. More noise followed as boxes crushed to the ground and fell open, contents spreading out into every direction.

Izuku stumbled back, almost falling down backwards this time, and held his forehead which had taken the brute force of the collision.

Blinking up warily, he sucked in a sharp breathe as he realized whom he had just accidentally head-butted. "K-Kacchan! Sorry, that was…!"

"Shut up, Deku," Bakugou snapped at him, though without as much swearing as he once would have.

It was a bit awkward between them, since Bakugou had been kidnapped and Izuku had been one of the students to go and save him. It was not like they were being nice to each other now, oh no. Bakugou still grumbled, growled and barked at Izuku, and Izuku just tried to avoid the other where he could. Not because he was afraid of Bakugou – that time was long since gone. But because he felt as if he pressured Bakugou with his sole presence.

Though Bakugou had at least tried to be nicer. He did not shout death threats at any given moment, now. And he had not tried to blow Izuku up for days now.

Though he still looked fairly angry about the fact that his personal belongings were scattered about all over the floor.

Izuku drew his head between his shoulders and hastily crouched down to help and collect their things. He didn't look up when he saw Bakugou doing the same out of the corner of his eyes, concentrating on the task at hand instead.

For a few minutes, there was nothing to be heard save for the rustling and faint clattering as they picked up their respective belongings and put them pack in the boxes.

Just as Izuku absentmindedly reached out for his All Might action figure laying a few inches away from him, Bakugou suddenly barked, "Don't touch that!"

Izuku jumped, head whipping up in surprise. "Wha-…?"

Bakugou's hand shot out, snatching the figurine away right from under Izuku's nose.

Gaze dark, Bakugou stared at Izuku unblinkingly. His stiff posture and the way he covered the action figure with both hands made it obvious that he was not going to hand the toy back.

"What…," Izuku collected himself, frown taking over his features. There was not much that made him stand up against his childhood-friend, but snatching away his beloved All Might-merchandise was one of those things. "Kacchan, what are you doing? That's mine!"

"No, it's not!" Bakugou fired back.

"Of course it is! It's been mine for years now, it's my favorite-…"

"It's not yours!" the explosive-tempered boy repeated, almost hissing the words. "It has written _your_ name on it, so it's _min_ e _!_ "

Izuku wanted to point out how this explanation made no sense at all, since the fact that his name was on it made it even more obvious that this was _his_ action figure.

But then, memories of days long since gone resurfaced, carrying the voice of a little boy with it.

" _Besides, friends share things all the time, so this is okay, right?"_

Freezing in place as he realized what this meant, Izuku stared wide-eyed and gaping at Bakugou who was crouched down next to him, tightly clutching an old toy with the wrong name on it, expression stubborn and almost defensive.

Bakugou obviously saw realization dawn on Izuku, because his expression flickered, crumbled, something akin to embarrassment showing there before he pulled his walls back up around himself. He stood, all but throwing the figurine back into the cardboard box. Then he kicked the lids of the box shut, heaved the whole load up onto his hip and stomped off towards the lift.

All of this had happened so fast that Izuku, still frozen in shock, didn't react to it. Could not.

But when he saw Bakugou reaching the lift doors, he came back to life, scrambling to get up while searching for words. But all he managed was a loud, almost desperate: "Kacchan!"

He half expected the explosion-user to keep walking, but to his utter surprise, Bakugou actually stopped in front of the lift. He didn't turn around, but he did not walk away, either.

Izuku took that as a sign that the other was still listening. He opened his mouth, but again, words seemed to elude him. What could he say, after he just realized that Bakugou had kept the action figure all those years? Had kept something they had exchanged as friends, even though they had not been friends anymore? Even though Izuku had thought he had been alone when he had…

 _Oh._

Izuku thought he knew what to do then and there. He basically dived back down, falling onto hands and knees as he searched through the T-Shirts, posters and other merchandises of his which were still scattered on the floor. He scrambled to find what he was looking for, because the whole time he feared Bakugou could lose his patience and just walk away without giving Izuku a chance to say something…

And then, his finger closed around a familiar weight, and Izuku jumped back to his feet at the same time, almost tripping in his haste. "Kacchan, look!"

There was Izuku's own action figure clutched in the hand he was stretching out towards his classmate. The colours were not as brilliant as they once were and there are a few scratches on the plastic, but other than that, it was an exact twin to Bakugou's toy.

Exactly the same - apart from the name on it.

There, written with black marker, a bit faded due to years gone by, it said _Katsuki._

"I kept it, too!" Izuku blurted out, feeling more nervous the longer the other boy did not turn around towards him. "I kept it, just like you! Remember? You gave it to me!"

 _As a friend,_ he wanted to add, but he didn't. His hand fell back down limply.

Because when he thought those words, he realized that it was all in the past. They were not friends anymore, right? Bakugou had made that quite clear for years now. And these action figures with the wrong names for the wrong owner, they were just a reminder of something that was not there anymore.

The figurines had been a sign of friendship once, but now? What were they now?

Izuku bit his lip, grip around the action figure tightening. Hesitantly, he started again, not daring to look up. "Perhaps… perhaps, you want it back. We could… we could change them back, if you want…"

"Keep it."

"H-Huh?" Izuku faltered, not believing what he had just heard.

Bakugou had still not turned around to him, but he tipped his head back enough that he could shoot a glance in Izuku's direction. "You… since you're obviously still not able to get my name right, you will have to keep it."

Izuku stared, gaped, and stared some more as he processed the words. Had Bakugou really just give his consent? And… was that a smirk tugging at Bakugou's lips? What…?

"Hey," all of sudden, Bakugou's voice turned sharp again. "Did you get that, stupid Deku?!"

"A-Ah, yes!" Izuku blurted out, flailing both arms around, spluttering. "I did, I really did, I…"

And he trailed off when the words sunk in finally.

The realization that both of them had kept their exchanged presents for all those years sunk in, and the thought sent a rush of hope through Izuku.

Perhaps… perhaps, there still _was_ something left of the friendship they once have had.

"I really did get it, Kacchan," Izuku finishes, a heartfelt, beaming smile taking over his features.

Bakugou snorted, turned fully away from him again and shifted the box on his hip a little bit as he entered the lift.

Izuku watched as the doors slowly started to slide shut behind Bakugou. Sighing, but still smiling, he crouched down to collect his own things so that he could finally bring them to his room.

Just when he reached for one of the few left-over T-Shirts, however, someone stepped up next to him.

"Deku! What happened here?"

"Do you need our assistance, Midoriya-kun?"

"Are you alright, Izuku-chan?"

"Told you that you should take a break."

Izuku smiled up at his friends as they gathered around him, Mineta even checking him for injuries. "Guys, hey, I'm fine! I just… dropped my boxes. My bad."

They didn't believe him entirely, if the gazes they exchanged and Todoroki's frown was anything to go by. But they didn't pressure him, instead started to help him gather his belongings. As much as he protested that it was fine, he could do that himself, they just ignored him.

Right when Izuku lifted the boxes back into his arms – Uraraka let one float next to him so that his view was no longer blocked – Mineta asked, "Midoriya, what's that in your hand?"

Izuku stopped what he was doing, peering down curiously, only to realize that he had all but forgotten about the action figure he still held in his hand.

He looked at it for a second, before he answered with a smile.

"A gift. From a friend."


End file.
